Introduction

This introduction provides an orientation to the book’s focus on eating disorders in boys and men, challenging the persistent framing of these conditions as ‘female illnesses’. It outlines the book’s interdisciplinary methodology, combining clinical research, cultural analysis, the humanities, and lived experience narratives. The introduction sets out the rationale for centring men’s voices and critically examines gendered assumptions within diagnostic and cultural frameworks. By establishing the book’s structure and thematic scope, it positions the work as both corrective and exploratory – aimed at broadening understanding, questioning clinical blind spots, and highlighting the value of personal storytelling in expanding how eating disorders are recognised and addressed.